The High Court’s decision to allow Epping Council to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel is nothing less than a reward for those who have organised the wave of racist protests outside hotels across the country-many of them violent, and many driven by far-right and fascist agitators.
The High Court’s decision to allow Epping Council to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel is nothing less than a reward for those who have organised the wave of racist protests outside hotels across the country-many of them violent, and many driven by far-right and fascist agitators.
This ruling sends a chilling message: that the way to shut down accommodation for refugees is through intimidation and “violent protest.” It hands victory to the far right and legitimises the politics of hate.
Nigel Farage’s response makes this clear. He declared that “Epping has shown the way to win” and called for more protests outside hotels, boasting that Reform-run councils will follow Epping’s lead with injunctions to shut them down. The ruling has emboldened those who want to turn Britain’s streets into a battleground against some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
Reform UK and the Tories are leading a racist campaign against refugees and migrants while the Labour government follows suit. And now we see immigration policy being shaped by the demands of racist mobs.
Refugees are not to blame for austerity, crumbling services, or violence against women and children.
These are lies-divide and rule tactics to deflect anger from those truly responsible.
Every time the far right mobilises, we will be there to oppose them. Let’s build a mass anti-racist movement that stands for unity, solidarity and hope against the politics of fear and hate.
